Saturday, September 3, 2016

Vacation MDI Style

We headed up to MDI on Wednesday morning for camping round #2. It rained on the way up but we truly lucked out with the weather - it was pretty wonderful all three days we were there. I think we managed to cram in an appropriate amount of hiking, running, ice cream eating, fire making and beach time over the three days we were on the Island. I'm not saying it was all rainbows and unicorns, as we certainly had a few meltdowns, but overall, it was a great trip and we had a lot of fun together. Not to mention the scenery on MDI never fails to disappoint.

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Wednesday - We had lunch in Bar Harbor and then headed out onto the Park Loop Road to hike the Beehive. Sam did great and I only had a few panic attacks ;) It was a fun, scrambly, awesome view, great way to kick off the trip, 1.3 mile loop for the afternoon.

After the hike, we headed to set up camp. We camped at Somes Sound View Campground over on the quiet side in Southwest Harbor - a nice, clean, quiet campground with good sites, a bath house, a pool, a quarry and a good location. It really worked out nicely.

Thursday - I got up and out around 6:15 am for a run from the campground, which was very nicely situated only 1.3 miles or so from the trailhead for Acadia Mountain. I was a bit surprised to find them doing a fair amount of trailwork in the area, but they had created a lovely detour. I looped up and over Acadia Mountain, and enjoyed the trails and views along the rock ledges at the summit. I had the trails to myself and returned via the truck road for a nice 6.3 mile loop.

Ryan and Sam were up and eating breakfast when I returned and after doing the same myself, we all suited up for the day's adventure. As Thursday was our one full day, we chose to do a longer adventure, in this case a loop up over Bald and Parkman Peaks. It was a really nice hike with a lot of ridgeline walking and wonderful views. It was also very hot out, so Sam ran out of water in the final mile despite the fact that we had filled her hydration pack fully with 1.5 liters of water. Oops! Still, she really does love to scramble and did a great job on the hike. It was a fun 2.8 mile loop.

A morning run and hot hike necessitated ice cream, so we headed into town before returning to the campground. When we got back, Ryan headed out for a run while Sam and I headed for the pool. Thankfully it was heated and I managed to last 45 minutes in the water with Sam before it just got to be too much for me :) She lasted another 15 minutes or so before I managed to get her out for a shower and snack. All in all, a very busy, active, fun day!

Friday - I was up and out around 6:20 am for another early morning mountain run. I hit the same trailhead, but this time, veered right at the junction and headed up Saint Sauveur. A lot more cloud cover this morning but still a nice hike and some cool views with neat morning light. After descending the Valley Peak Trail, I finished the loop by doing Acadia in the reverse direction as I had on Thursday morning. Once again, I had the trails and the peaks all to myself for a nice 6.7 mile loop.

When I got back, Sam was still sleeping. I guess she needed the rest! Once she woke up, we motivated to get camp all packed up and then headed into Bar Harbor for breakfast at Two Cats. Yum!

Then it was off to Sand Beach for some beach time. After seeing the beach from way up on the Beehive, Sam really wanted to spend some time in the sand and water, so we chose to have a chill day and not do any hiking. While Sam played on the beach, Ryan went for his run so it all worked out nicely.

All in all, a wonderful trip to MDI! But now I'm tired ;) Vacationing is tough work!